Sri Lanka Cricket trying to bring back sacked committee

By Champika Fernando

Sri Lanka Cricket is in a desperate attempt to bring the Tour Organizing Committee (TOC) sacked by the sports minister back to office in view of the forthcoming tours of India and New Zealand to Sri Lanka.
In a sudden move last week Minister CB Ratnayake sacked the TOC and appointed a fresh committee without consulting the SLC hierarchy who were attending the ICC Board meeting in Singapore.
The decision may have deepened the rift between the new minister and the SLC hierarchy, which started when the minister replaced the selection committee following the T20 debacle in the West Indies and then publicly ranking the board as the third most corrupt institution in the country.
Though the minister gave no reason for his action, insiders say it was done to end the widespread nepotism being promoted by the board hierarchy.
Meanwhile SLC chief DS de Silva angered by the minister’s action has stopped publicizing the names of the new committee in an attempt to get the old committee back, which includes his nephew Suraj Dandeniya, a paid employee of the board.
The cricket sources however said the new committee chaired by Chandana Liyanagunawardene, though got an urgent work to attend ahead of this month’s India tour of Sri Lanka, is yet to meet.
“It’s a terrible situation. The minister should have consulted the board before taking the decision, and with the tours ahead this has lead to lots of confusions,” an insider said.
The new eight-member committee includes Chandana Liyanagunawardene (chairman), Dunstan Guluhewa, (secretary), Chandra Fernando, Manjula Kariyapperuma, Anil de Silva, Anura Basnayake, Dr. Venkatesural and Maxi Proctor.
Dunstan Guluhewa was the only one to retain a place in the new committee.